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Mint Prawn Masala

Mint...just say the word and cool, refreshing imagescome to mind: frosty glasses of lemonade garnishedwith curly sprigs of spearmint; the clean, chilling tasteof a mint candy cane. Even chewing gum, mouthwash,and toothpaste companies use images of crisp, cleansnowy slopes to let us know how refreshing their mintflavored products are. Delicious recipes for soups anddeserts. Remedies for various health troubles andcountless other uses mint as been in the culinary and medicine world for some time now. Mint has been also known to be in a part of Greek mythology. According to the legend, Minthe originally was a nymph, and Pluto's lover. When his wife Persephone found out, in a fit of rage she turned Minthe into a lowly plant, to be trod upon. Pluto could not undo the spell, but softened the spell by giving her a sweet scent which would perfume the air when her leaves were stepped upon.

I have actually used mint mostly when making chutneys or some time as a garnish on my rice dishes. That’s as much as mint’s importance was in my household.But lately I seem to like the flavour of coriander and mint leaves.Therefore I always try to find more ways to use both these herbs in my cooking. Generally mint is commonly used by the Indians here in Malaysia. Its very rare to see them in Malay and Chinese cuisine.I came across this recipe and just couldnt resist trying them out. The mint aroma surprisingly was not as strong as I thought, and felt the dish was more tastier without the roasted chana dal.

Heat 2 tbsp oil, add in dried chillies, fennel,cloves, and curry leaves. Mix in chopped onions and sauté until onion turn slightly brown, mix in chopped mint leaves and sauté again until leaves soften.Add in tomato and ginger garlic paste.Give a few stirring before adding in the prawns.Cook until prawns turn pinkish, make sure the prawns are well coated with the masala.Spread the prawns in the wok, add in coriander powder,chilli powder and turmeric powder.Mix in green chillies as well. Give a stir so that the prawns are well mixed with the powders and salt.Leave to cook for 5mins.Do not add water as we want a dry dish. Finally add in the coarsely pounded chana dal.Personally I felt the dish is tasty enough without the chana dal.If you like a cruncy bite then add in the dal.Granish with chopped coriander and mint leaves.

Source: Chef Damodharan

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